Iím liking it. Only one episode to go. No idea why Netflix is releasing half a season each of this and Kimmy Schmidt at the same time. (Iíll watch that next) Loving Maebyís scheme this season. TBF Iím primed to appreciate grifters right now.

Yeah, I hadn't really thought about it until you point it out, but I thought Tobias was one of the funniest parts of season 4, but don't recall him getting many laughs from me this season.

the hurt people hurt people bit with lucille was funny, but the rest was like, eh. it didn't help that they had him constantly reminding the viewer that he didn't really have a reason to be on the show anymore

I just recently finished what was up of Season 5, after having no interest in it at first, but I do think it is a lot better than Season 4.

It still suffers somewhat from Netflix's inability to gather the cast of any of their shows together for more than the bare minimum required, but not quite as bad as Season 4. You can practically see the show bending over backward to try to explain why this or that person that really should be in a scene isn't there. Unless I can see the faces of all of the cast present in the same shot with some obvious clues they're actually in the same location, I just assume they're not. Lindsey with the bag over her head was particularly egregious, as they let the plot be dictated by the absence of cast. There are other times, even in the same scene that you can tell they've flopped principal cast for a body double shot from behind.

They might have wanted a few more people to forget about Jeffrey Tambor abusing Jessica Walter and the other male cast members defending him

you'd think so, but they did a similar thing with K*mmy Sch*mdt and Grace and Frankie (although at least they have the decency to call Grace and Frankie separate seasons instead of being like season 5 part 2)

All I remember about season 5 was that I liked it more than 4, but still far less than the original run, and also that watching it after learning that Jeffrey Tambor sucks so hard he pulls the moon from the sky made me uneasy watching it.

the final eight episodes are out, they generally follow the same trajectory of the first eight, where the jokes are just a bit too long and over-explained and they'll show like a full minute and a half flashback scene that was just in the previous episode, but it at least it seems to be a definitive ending for the series

the final eight episodes are out, they generally follow the same trajectory of the first eight, where the jokes are just a bit too long and over-explained

I fully agree with this.

One of the best things about the original run of the show was the timing. Season 4 was its own mess, but Season 5 has terrible timing. Its just kind of bloated and saggy. There are still great moments hidden in there, but they don't land with the impact they should. It also messes with the shows self-referential nature. On this original run it turned into this giant joke ouroboros; they'd seed in little punch lines in previous episodes, and then finally give you the set up later. Here, it just feels like they hold so the viewer can remember the funny joke they made 10 years ago.

Tambor excluded, I still really like the cast of this show and it feels like all of their time would be better spent on other endeavors. I know di Rossi has retired from acting, but I want to see the rest in other things at this point. They kind of hurts to say, since this was kind of a formative show for me. I just happened to catch "Shock and Awe" when it first aired and it was everything I didn't know I wanted in a TV show. For a solid decade I would have called it my favorite TV show. It really feels like its time has passed, though.

I do have some thoughts on the ending. I really hated the last minute reveal that Buster actually did murder Lucille 2. It doesn't really track with what I remember happening at the end of season 4 and it adds some malice to a character that previously had not had any. I wish there had been some explanation for Lindsay's disappearance. Lastly, I really wish there had been a final Michael & George Michael scene at the end. Their relationship was the heart of the show and that should have been the last thing we saw. Basically, I want the end of season 3.